Sector: Textile and Garment
Princess Fashion School and Variety Store is a Textile and Garment store situated in Gombe state. It is owned and run by the CEO, Kolapo Alimot, a fashion designer who started the business from a love and passion for fashion. They make ready-to-wear clothes, as well as bespoke outfits. Kolapo has been in the fashion business for over 10 years and boasts of having trained many young people, including 50-plus National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members under the NYSC’s skills acquisition scheme.
Prior to participating in the BRAVE Women Nigeria Project, some of the challenges she had was due to insufficient capital to buy enough materials to make her ready-to-wear clothes or increase the number of machines to enable the business to meet growing demand. There was also the issue of the competence of the staff, who were not always well-trained before joining her business.
Before now, the business was operating with just five machines, which were very outdated and not working properly, thereby causing delays in production and customers complaining or not returning. But after accessing the matching grant under the Project, she was able to purchase 19 new and modern industrial machines. In addition to this, with the training she got from the business clinics she learnt how to manage her books, how to employ more competent staff and train them on how to use the new machines; renovate and improve the space she had so that it could better service the needs of her staff and clients. In her words “BraveWomenNg has been a blessing to me, and I have learnt a lot. Also my business has taken a new turn. I could proudly say that my shop is among the top 10 in Gombe as we speak”.
Financially the business has grown and has the potential of making over a million naira monthly now. She went on to tell us that sales will improve when she has finished the renovation that is ongoing and also set up her social media presence so she can get more clientele and expand her reach.
See link to YOUTUBE VIDEOS below
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